Sunday, March 27, 2011

Water radiation level in Fukushima 10 million times normal

TOKYO – Radioactivity in contaminated water in one reactor unit at a damaged Japanese nuclear power plant tested 10 million times higher than normal, forcing the evacuation of workers and again delaying efforts to bring the complex under control, the plant's operator said Sunday.

The air in Unit 2, meanwhile, measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour — four times the limit of 250 millisieverts deemed safe by the government, Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters.

WHOOPS

That story changed......

"The number is not credible," said Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Takashi Kurita. "We are very sorry."

It's only 100,000 times what it should be!

WSJConcern reached a new pitch Sunday morning, when the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric PowerCo., or Tepco, evacuated staff from one reactor after reporting that the level of radioactivity in a pool that had accumulated inside one of the buildings reached 10 million times the normal level found in the reactor core. The company later said the measurement was inaccurate and revised it down to 100,000 times the normal level—still a huge jump.